Ottawa Lake Fen SNA

The Ottawa Lake Fen State Natural Area is one of 674 designated State Natural Areas in Wisconsin, and together they comprise 380,000 acres of some of the most beautiful and treasured lands in the state. Working at The Fen was a natural progression from working across the street at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail and having an eye for buckthorn.

1836 Survey Notes (per Ben “Here’s as far back as we’ll ever get, 1836. The Section corners that match our other maps are in red. The surveyors found marsh, brooks, and oaks. A few grassy areas. The last statement says they found grapes and other vines?I don’t think the Fen and Lake were separate entities until the canals were dug. The water level must have dropped and now we have a shallow wetland separating the two areas. Our beloved tamarack grove probably didn’t exist.”

Evidence of the drainage systems created to farm the land west of Ottawa Lake and The Fen? Remember, the map is not the territory.

The Fen — 2013

Scroll a little north in the map above and drill into the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA. At the maximum zoom you can identify some of the drainage ditches identified above.

I began working on the oak studded hillside between the east shore of Ottawa Lake and the campground in the Fall of 2013, and eventually made it all the way around to Tamarack Bog on the northwest side of The Fen. Here is chronological timeline of The Buckthorn Man’s adventures at Ottawa Lake:

So, where are we at now?

The Buckthorn Man’s right hand is almost healed from surgery for Dupuytren’s Contracture (no, not caused by cutting buckthorn) and he’s chomp’in at the bit to get back to work. The exciting news is that Eric Tarman-Ramcheck, who now works for the Wisconsin DNR has submitted a new North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant request for the Ottawa Lake and Ottawa Lake Fen SNA areas. Here is a picture of the proposal.

Ben Johnson and Lindsay Knudsvig have joined The Buckthorn Man in making a commitment to work on the project to generate matching funds for the grant. We should know by early Spring 2016 whether or not the grant has been awarded. I hope you will see the value of working at the Ottawa Lake Fen State Natural Area with us — there is still a ton of work to do out there! Please visit the Volunteer page to learn more about how to volunteer with The Buckthorn Man and Contact me!